Our Lady of the Assassins (2000)

OK,taking an unflinching look at the small value human life seems to have in Medellin through the eyes of Fernando who returns to his home city after 30 years and sees all the ground crime has gained was maybe a good idea to start with. OK, his subsequent encounter with Alexis and the beginning of what seems to be a love story seem to bring some kind of a redeeming quality to these two somehow cursed characters, the first one by his disappointment and disgust for life in general, the second one by the very background he was born in. However, the problem with this on-screen garbage is that these two aspects only serve as an excuse for a fundamentally sleazy and exploitative display of any kind of gratuitous violence, to such a degree that at a certain point, the movie loses all its credibility and value. This happens somewhere in the middle of the movie, when Fernando is arguing with two men in the Medellin underground/subway and literally gets Alexis to kill the two men for NOTHING. It is here that the director starts displaying with great complacency an authentic killing spree that Fernando and Alexis go on during their walks in Medellin. If the whole population of that city acted this way, I think there would be no single living soul out there anymore. And the most pathetic scene is definitely the one with the dog, which both of them seem SO DESPERATE to have to kill. OK, the movie is misanthropic, but this aspect is no way a redeeming quality: after all, the Nazis also preferred animals to the overwhelming majority of mankind. And after that, we have that encounter with Villmar, which is supposed to make us sympathize with Fernando, suggesting that he hasn't after all lost all his humanity and is still capable of forgiving? No, I do not buy it, and I would even add that Mr Schroeder hasn't enough balls to kill the character of Fernando after Willmar's death at the end of the movie. At least, this would have made a point, that is to say that violence had totally prevailed. To sum up, this is only a huge, pointless and nauseating crap.

This movie takes your heart and soul. This movie freezes your heart and wants you to cry, smile and cry again all at the same time, and above all almost screams at you about the horror of life in Medellin at the time which it presents. This film moved me to the core. Love story which might offend some people is gorgeous and true. An older gay guy falls in love with 18 years old street gay boy who desperately seeks love and security which he did not have all his young life. He can't step away from the habit which became his second nature, killing the guys like himself, young and lonely. In the movie killing becomes almost as understandable as breathing or eating and becomes part of love of the older guy to the beautiful Alexis. To my astonishment, all the killings all of the sudden became acceptable to spectators. I love this movie. I love the story. I love the plot of true feelings of the older guy toward his young lover and vice versa. Human spirit which emanates from this film is mesmerizing and almost blinding and the love is heartbreaking and beautiful.

There are lots of comments on this film. A feature film from Colombia! Well, that's not exactly true, because this film was made with french money and producers.Fernando Vallejo is, by far, considered the best living writer in Spanish. Wow! Will this dismiss the idea that Garcia Marquez is the best writer in the world. Well, no, and yes. Fernando Vallejo is one of the most straight forward writers in any language. He uses prose as poetry and vice versa. His narrative is full of ludicrous contradictions devised by his own experience and his point of view of life and religion.He may be one of the most explosive writers ever, because of two facts: he can't see the grays in between. His life is as black and white as possible. So, his position is always one of extremes.The script was completely written by him, not only based on his novel. It is as faithful as possible to it with the exception that his kids kill more than one hundred people! He's directed some other films while living in Mexico, to depict the Colombian tragedy. These films were banned in Colombia.I recommend to all the viewers of this film not to regard it as a Shroeder film, but as a Vallejo film. Shroeder shot the whole thing with Vallejo behind his shoulder. Even the actor they cast is Vallejo himself, except for some very subtle features.If you could read his work, maybe you'll find out many explanations to his anguish and horror -and love, that seem to be exactly on the same plane.

The first time I saw this movie I was so excited to see a film not only touch on the subject of violence that is all to prominent in Colombia, but also see parts of Medellin, the beloved city of my family, on screen. However, when I watched for a second time and perhaps with a little more objectivity. I felt the movie lacked in a few areas. For one, the movie does seem to drag in prolonged scenes of silence that doesn't seem to serve even a dramatic effect. This makes the movie feel slow and boring. Also, the central relationships between Fernando and his two young lovers seem a little unplausible. Fernando is an aging writer with the rhetoric of a intellectual and a cynical academic. The young lovers, Alexis and Wilmar, are to young, too hip, and to modern for it to be believable that they would have such an intimate and profound relationship with Fernando. The ending also leaves with a void and a sense that there is something else that was left out. The acting is good, very natural in the dialogue but some of the non-verbal actions of the characters ( such as love-making or the killing) can seem a little rehearsed. The cinematography is beautiful and it uses the city of Medellin to the fullest as another character in the backdrop of the movie. It also gives a glimpse into the everyday life of the Colombian city culture with the infusion of music and outdoor shots of the people and places in the city. I like the fact that it doesn't hold back in portraying the violence it addresses as raw and common, but sometimes it seems a little unreal or dramatized.